Set during the Second World, the storyline follows a group of women Resistance fighters who are trying to help people escape the Nazis in France. We meet Sandrine and her network known by the codename Citadel. Arinius is a young monk, who is safe-guarding what he feels is "sacred words". I question, sacred words to whom? I found it odd and yet fascinating, Ariunius is a monk, and the word God and Christian is used in his story, but Sandrine is not a believer in God (this remark is made more than once). So I ask, why is there a book about "sacred words" and Christians, paired with and utilized by an unbelieving French resistance fighter? The 1942 storyline at least presents its share of obstacles for its characters. Sandrine certainly grows and changes as she matures from an unsure, impulsive girl into a clever and courageous woman. Although I found the simplistic way in which Mosse presents their decisions somewhat irritating, I really enjoyed how various characters, like Luce, rationalized their collaboration. In this respect, Citadel allows the reader to sympathize with what the ordinary citizens of these villages and towns must have felt as the Nazi occupation deepened. It’s all well and good to say that one would stand and fight against such an invader in theory. When it’s actually happening, it is a different thing entirely, more pernicious and less overtly easy to throw off.

Kate Mosse is an international bestselling author with sales of more than five million copies in 42 languages. Her fiction includes the novels Labyrinth (2005), Sepulchre (2007), The Winter Ghosts (2009), and Citadel (2012), as well as an acclaimed collection of short stories, The Mistletoe Bride & Other Haunting Tales (2013). Kate’s new novel, The Taxidermist’s Daughter is out now. Alas, it’s fair to say that Citadel and I did not hit it off. Ours was a date best described by words like “tepid” and “mediocre”. Citadel likes to talk about itself, and boy, it had certainly had its share of adventure sto relate. But I kept wondering when the real story would start and when I would actually learn something about what kind of book this was. Instead, it kept referencing new people and events in its life. And the worst, by far, was Arinius. Lucie stapt eveneens uit en omhelst haar. "Weet je zeker dat je het verder wel red?" "Ja echt. Maak je geen zorgen."- By pledging your support today, you can see your name printed in the book alongside the great names of stage and screen. You’ll have access to Kate’s shed, be able to keep up-to-date with her progress, and get a taste of dramas on and off the stage, scandals and success, the box office triumphs and one or two productions that didn’t quite come off!And new heroes and heroines, Raoul, Sandrine, Lucie, Marianne, too many to name all related somehow to the story of the characters of the previous book like a cycle.

Now you, too, can be part of the history of CFT. The international bestselling novelist and playwright, Kate Mosse – a Chichester girl, born and bred – is writing the anniversary book for CFT’s first half century. Chichester Festival Theatre at Fifty is a decade-by-decade celebration, a love letter in words and pictures, based on interviews by many of those who’ve played their part in the enduring success of one of Britain’s most important and best loved theatres.It was a super emotive book, not only due to what was happening, the Nazi occupation, the deportations to the camps, the isolation, but also the unity and loyalty of people, their bravery to fight not only the Nazi but their own government accepting Hitler's regime and also the way that the author linked these characters to the ones in the previous two books in the series.

A superb blend of rugged action and haunting mystery based on real-life figures, Citadel is a vivid and richly atmospheric story of a group of heroic women who dared the odds to survive [provided by the publisher] Because I haven't read Sepulchre, I can't comment on how that book fits into the trilogy, but there are references to the two previous books that lead up to Citadel. The time frame of Citadel is the 1940's while France was in the midst of Nazi occupation. This story is one of bravery as a group of women partake in the French resistance. The characters are well developed and pull the reader into their worlds easily. Then we meet a Dark Ages monk who is protecting a scroll known as the Codex. This secondary plot should have been left out of the book. It distracted me. It takes too much away from what could have been a great story of courageous female resistance fighters. Apparently Kate Mosse always includes a supernatural twist to her novels and this is why she had to force this storyline in for the trilogy to make sense. It’s a pity because it ruins the novel.I think the book is admirably researched with some wonderfully detailed imagery and descriptions. However, I found the length off-putting and it was hard to keep up with all the characters as some of them melded together they were so indistinct. I found the supernatural element distracting and felt it undermined the careful planning and research that went in to telling the Resistance story. I also couldn't have given two hoots about the medieval plot that was interwoven. I just didn't find it interesting even though there were some beautifully written passages. I've been putting off posting this for weeks. I gave up. Citadel just didn't hold my interest and I kept diving into other books instead. It's not that Kate Mosse does anything badly in this book, she just doesn't do anything well enough to keep me involved. It's a pity because I loved the first two books of the trilogy and it was reading the first many years ago that tempted me to the South of France for the first time. I've been in love with the place ever since. This is the first time I have written in a review on this blog reference to Scripture, but I do not apologize, it would be wrong of me as a reviewer to not state something in a book I see as incorrect, even if the book is fiction. This Nazi connection provides a richly dramatic setting for Citadel. The novel takes place largely between 1942 and 1944, between the occupation and liberation of southern France.